Obama or McCain?

This year has been one of the most tumultuous in memory with America facing serious issues ranging from the economy to national security to the environment to health care and beyond. Add to that mix destructive natural disasters and a history-making election year of unprecedented involvement of women and minorities and you have an amazing tale to share with your grandkids some day.

In September, SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION‘s Security Scanner® Web poll asked: Which presidential candidate do you plan to vote for and what is your main reason? Here are the results that will appear in the November issue of the magazine …

McCain; lesser of two evils 29%

McCain; best for national security/diplomacy 24%

McCain; best for business/economy 15%

Obama; best for business/economy 15%

Obama; best for national security/diplomacy 9%

Obama; lesser of two evils 8%

If this is any indication, democratic presidential candidate and supposed frontrunner Barack Obama may want to hold off on packing for the White House. Nearly seven in 10 respondents say they plan to vote for republican John McCain, with the “lesser of two evils” and “national security/diplomacy” being the top two reasons.

This is in sharp contrast to most media polls, where Obama typically comes out on top by 4-5 percentage points. However, the results above perhaps should not be too surprising for an industry such as security, where according to SSI‘s 2008 Security Industry Demographic Census: 92 percent are male; 91 percent are Caucasian; the average age is 50; and 61 percent say they vote Republican.

Are you accurately represented in the numbers above? What is your stance and perspective on the 2008 election?

Scott Goldfine

Editor-in-Chief

SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION